Jellicles Old and Jellicles New
by Razzle
Summary: This is the story of Old Deuteronomy and the Jellicles, the way I see it, beginning with Grizabella's history and going through to the adventures of original character kittens even younger than Jemima. Macavity! Strays! Pollicles! Adventure! Romance!
1. Grizabella the Glamour Cat, Part 1

**Grizabella the Glamour Cat**

"No," Old Deuteronomy said sadly.

"No?!" Grizabella gasped. "_No?!_"

"No," the Jellicle Leader repeated regretfully. "You do not have the strength and pureness of soul to be a Jellicle."

Grizabella collapsed on the ground, too surprised to cry. "I'm not good enough?" she whispered.

Tears shone in Old Deuteronomy's eyes, but he held them back. "George," he said to a strong young tomcat standing at his side. "Take her out of the Junkyard."

"What?" Grizabella asked. "Leave here? But father, what will I do?" As George started to help her up, she turned to him. "You can't let this happen," she pleaded.

George looked away, unable to look Grizabella in the eye. "I'm sorry," he said. Nonetheless, he knew he had to do his duty, so he took Grizabella by the arm and started leading her away from the tire in the center of the Junkyard.

"No!" Grizabella shrieked, digging her claws into the ground. "I won't go!" She turned around and stretched a paw out behind her towards Old Deuteronomy. "Father!"

Old Deuteronomy merely turned and walked away, but not before Grizabella saw a tear roll down his cheek. And she knew, that no matter the circumstances, he cared.

Stunned, Grizabella stumbled, unresisting, along as George pulled her away. When they reached the gate, George thrust her forward, out into the street.

"George, I--" she began, walking back towards him, but she was met by a hiss and a warning scratch at the air in front of her. The tomcat chased her away from the front gate, then he retreated back into the Junkyard.

"I love you," Grizabella whispered into the now-silent air. She let one tear fall before she turned her back on her old life, her old home, and her old friends, and walked bravely forward into whatever the dawn might bring.


	2. Grizabella the Glamour Cat, Part 2

**Grizabella the Glamour Cat**

It had been nearly eight years since Grizabella had left the Junkyard. She had blossomed from a shy, gangly girl of two into a glamourous queen any tom would be proud to have at his side.

She was fairly well off, and had little if anything to complain about. She had found a strong alley tom who protected her from the other males, and he was a fairly good provider as well. In fact, things ran pretty smoothly until one day...

"It can't be!" Grizabella wailed. "I thought he loved _me!_" She shivered, and started to look for shelter from the rain. Augustus had thrown her out, leaving her to fend for herself. He had not offered any explanation, but Grizabella had not needed one; she had seen the beautiful young queen that he had chosen to replace her with. _I became too old to please him any more,_ she thought in disgust.

Finally, she stumbled across an old cardboard box. It was soaked from the rain, but it was better shelter than none. She started to crawl in, but jerked back suddenly. There was another cat in there!

"'Allo," the cat said cheerfully. "I'm Bill Bailey. And what by chance is your name, missy?"

"I'm Grizabella," she said. "The Glamour Cat."

Bill fell over on his side, hooting with laughter. "'Glamour Cat,' eh? You don't look it much, missy, if I may say so!"

"And who are you to say so?" Grizabella demanded haughtily, stung by his words. They were true, though; her lovely silver and white patched coat was matted down with rain and mud.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, missy. But you look as if you could use a bit of a roof over your 'ead. Come on in," he invited, moving over to one side so that there would be room for her inside the box.

Grizabella stepped gingerly inside the cardboard box, and sat down. Once she had gotten a good look at the tomcat who called himself Bill Bailey, she saw that despite his rough appearance, he was actually pretty handsome. His fur was mostly white, but there were brown and cream colored patches here and there, and one brown patch over his right eye that gave him almost the appearance of a Pollicle. He was strong and solidly built, but perhaps the most handsome quality about him were his eyes, which shone with a defiant spirit that could not be repressed or denied by anything.

Grizabella realized that she had been staring and looked away, breaking the spell.

"Well, we might as well catch forty winks while waiting for the storm to pass," Bill Bailey said, curling up and closing his eyes.

Grizabella sighed, and followed his example, but could not sleep. _How could Augustus have done that to me?_ she wondered, staring blankly out into the pouring rain. _I was always faithful to him, and he just abandoned me for the first pretty kitten that came along. I loved him._ Grizabella closed her eyes and tried to sleep, as her eyes made their own little rainstorm of tears.


	3. Grizabella the Glamour Cat, Part 3

**Grizabella the Glamour Cat**

Grizabella awoke the next morning to discover that the rain had stopped. She heard Bill Bailey yawn, and looked at him. He stretched, arching his back and letting the claws of his front paws out, then turned to Grizabella, scratching his ear. "Want me to scrounge up some breakfast for us?" he asked.

Not knowing what else to do, Grizabella nodded, feeling a bit awkward.

Bill Bailey left, and Grizabella had a bit of time to think before he returned with a rather large trout in his mouth. "Breakfast for two," he announced cheerily, slicing the fish neatly in half with his claws. "Heads or tails?" he asked with a grin, holding up the two pieces.

Grizabella grinned back. "Heads."

And so, Bill Bailey and the Glamour Cat spent the day together, and neither one thought to leave the other's company. Bill Bailey showed Grizabella around "his" part of the city, told her which alleys to avoid and which houses had nice humans that would feed a stray cat once in a while. Grizabella was starting to get used to the slightly off-the-wall tom's personality, and was having such a good time that she didn't notice how much time had passed until it started to get dark.

"Oh," she said, feeling somewhat depressed for some reason she couldn't quite place her clawtip on. "It's getting dark."

"So it is," Bill Bailey said. "We better head back home." Without a backward glance, so sure was he that Grizabella would follow, he started back towards the alley containing his cardboard box. Bemused, she followed him.

For the next several weeks, Grizabella lived in the cardboard box with Bill Bailey. One day, when she was watching him have a friendly conversation with a human that he was trying to convince to feed him, she realized something: _I love him._ And that night, when they had gotten home from their day about the city, she told him so.


	4. Grizabella the Glamour Cat, Part 4

**Grizabella the Glamour Cat**

"Flowers would look so pretty in your fur," Bill Bailey said to Grizabella as they sat leaning together on a park bench, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. "Wait here. I'll be right back." He hopped down from the bench and frolicked away to go find some flowers for Grizabella's fur.

Grizabella laughed softly. Sometimes Bill Bailey reminded her more of a kitten than a 10-year-old tomcat.

* * *

Bill Bailey had only left Grizabella alone for a moment when he heard her scream. "Grizabella? I'm coming!" he yelled, already in motion.

He reached the park bench in seconds, and there saw a horrible sight: Grizabella was cornered by a huge Pollicle.

Bill Bailey did not stop for a second to think before he leaped onto the Pollicle's back, sinking his teeth into it's shoulders.

Grizabella screamed again as the Pollicle twisted its head around and bit Bill Bailey. The brave cat smacked it smartly upon the nose with his claws. Only once the Pollicle turned, yiping, to go did he leap from it's back to the grass.

Grizabella breathed a sigh of relief as the Policle ran whimpering away, and turned to her mate. "You saved me, Bill Bailey! Bill Bailey?"

The tomcat groaned softly and fell to the ground. Grizabella gasped as she saw blood clotting in the fur of his side, and jumped down next to him. She licked at the blood, trying to clean the wound, saying his name over and over again and crying.

"Grizabella," he rasped, and she moved to cradle his head in her arms, and stroked the fur on his head tenderly, realizing she could do no more. "'Glamour Cat,' eh?" he smiled weakly, looking at her fur where she had gotten blood matted into it from trying to help him. "You don't look it much, missy, if I may say so..."

"Oh, don't die, Bill Bailey!" Grizabella sobbed into his shoulder. "I love you..." But no amount of love could help him now. He would never speak again.

Grizabella sat up, letting go of his now-limp body. "And I'm going to have kittens," she whispered.


	5. Grizabella the Glamour Cat, Part 5

**Grizabella the Glamour Cat**

Even though she knew it was forbidden, Grizabella took her newly weaned kittens and headed for the Junkyard that she had not seen for so very, very long.

She stopped at the gate, and looked down at her kittens. "Munkustrap, Tumblebrutus," she said to them, "Now listen carefully. Go into the Junkyard, and find one of the cats in there. Don't be afraid, they will take care of you. Do you understand?"

Munkustrap, the little gray tabby that always seemed to be looking out for his brother, though they were both strong, nodded.

Grizabella looked her kittens over carefully one last time, memorizing them in her heart and mind. While Munkustrap was a gray tabby, Tumblebrutus was mostly white with brown and cream patches, and had a brown patch over his right eye, that made him look almost like a Pollicle. It hurt Grizabella to think how he would never know his father, who he looked so much like.

"Now, one more thing," she said, choking back her tears. "You must promise that you will never, never forget me, all right?"

"All right, mommy," they said together.

Grizabella gave her kittens one last hug, and said, "Now go inside."

Grizabella blinked the tears away as she watched from her hiding spot as her kittens walked into the Junkyard. "Well, now, who are you two young gentletoms?" a young queen, perhaps four years old, asked them.

"I'm Munkustrap, and this is Tumblebrutus," the bolder of the two said.

"I'm Jellylorum," the queen said. "Where is your mother?"

Grizabella held her breath, ready to dash away if her innocent minded kittens gave her away.

"She left us here," Munkustrap said. "She said you were nice Jellicle Cats and would take care of us, and she wants us to be Jellicles."

Grizabella breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, you poor dears!" Jellylorum exclaimed. "Come along and meet the others. We surely _will_ take care of you, you needn't worry..." The queen continued chattering comfortingly, but Grizabella was no longer listening. She cast one last look at her kittens and whispered, "Goodbye... I love you, both of you." Then, she turned and ran off into the night.

That was the last Grizabella was seen near the Junkyard for many years, and I believe you know the rest of the Glamour Cat's story.


	6. The Luggage Van

**The Luggage Van**

"Skimble!" the stationmaster's youngest daughter, Betsy, called. "Where is Skimble?"

"Has he gone to hunt the thimble?" Her sister, Tilly, asked.

I knew they were looking for me, but at the moment I didn't care. I had much more important matters to attend to in the luggage van...

"Everything is fine, I'm right here, dearest," I said soothingly to Jennyanydots. "How long?"

My mate smiled up at me. "Soon," she said. "The same as when you asked five seconds ago."

"Oh," I said sheepishly, and she laughed.

"You aren't usually so disorganized," she commented. Then she gave a soft meow of pain that hurt me but at the same time filled me with joy. I knew that I was soon to become a father.

I placed my paw on top of hers as she laboured for what seemed an eternity. Then, all at once I was holding our daughter. Our beautiful, new, darling, baby daughter. Awed, I lifted her up for Jennyanydots to see. We were both crying tears of joy as we dried the kitten off with our tongues and our paws.

As I stood there watching our tiny baby snuggled up against Jennyanydots, nursing contentedly, I whispered, "What shall we call her?"

"Well," my love said, "I think she will be a great dancer one day. See how her legs are long--and fine and strong as well?"

I nodded. "And look at her markings," I said, "Red with the black spots here and there. Why, it looks almost like an exploding bomb..."

"Bombalurina?" we said together. The look on Jenny's face was priceless, and I imagine mine was much the same. We both laughed, and little Bombalurina mewed angrily, set her ears back against her skull, and let out her claws, threatening to scratch her mother. She was upset because Jennyanydots was jostling her with her laughter, upsetting her first feeding.

"Her coloration is not the only explosive thing about her," I said, once I had gotten my breath back. "So is her personality."

"Yes," Jenny agreed, "She will be quite a handful." Then she cocked an ear towards a window that was open slightly. "Isn't it about time for the train to be leaving...?"

"Oh, I completely forgot!" I exclaimed, checking the little pocket watch I carried in my vest. "It's 11:42! The train should have left the station two minutes ago!" I waved a paw dismissively. "But I would not have missed this, even if it had made the train two _hours_ late."

From the passenger car attached to the luggage van, I could hear the passengers becoming more frantic by the minute.

"I have to go now," I said, standing up. At the doorway I paused and looked back. Our daughter was already asleep, curled up in the soft fur on Jenny's stomach, and my mate was washing her with her soft, pink tongue. It might have been my imagination, but I thought that I could see a halo of light surounding the two, completing the perfect picture. After a good long look, I turned and marched out of the luggage van, and sauntered proudly to the rear of the train.


	7. ToDanceBytheLightoftheJellicleMoon

To Dance By the Light of the Jellicle Moon

Demeter danced with the rest of the cats in the Junkyard, her fur flashing black and gold like a lightning storm cloud under the Jellicle Moon. Her striking fur seemed to shine even more brightly under the moonlight than it did during the day. As the music in their hearts swelled, the Jellicles danced more and more energetically until, one by one, they slowed to a stop and sat or laid down to watch the others.

When only a few cats were still dancing, Demeter turned to glance at Bombalurina, her older sister. Bombalurina had told Demeter that she planned to be the one to do the ceremonial Mating Dance at this year's Jellicle Ball with one of the young toms. It was always a pair of young Jellicles at their first Jellicle Ball who danced that particular dance. The last Jellicle queen and the last Jellicle tom left standing when the others had stopped dancing would be the ones to dance together. It didn't automatically mean that they would become mates, although Jellicles in love had danced it together before and, no doubt, would again. Demeter smiled at Bombalurina and prepared to sink gracefully to the ground when Bombalurina winked and quickly dropped down to the ground herself.

Demeter's fur stood on end along her back and her tail puffed out as she stared in disbelief at her smirking sister. _Bombalurina!_ she thought at her sister, beginning to shake nervously. She glanced around quickly and saw that all the other young queens had also already stopped dancing and settled down. _How can you do this to me? You know how shy I am... Besides, I thought you would jump at the chance to dance with a tom in front of everyone. I can't believe this._ She felt a little betrayed that her mischievious sister would play this kind of prank on her. Now Demeter would have to do the Mating Dance this year! She glanced over at Old Deuteronomy, who nodded encouragingly to her from where he sat near the Tyre. He smiled at the young queen, and Demeter felt immensely reassured. Deliberately smoothing down her fur again, the six-month old queen turned, trembling, to see who she would be dancing with.

Her trapped expression melted into a barely suppressed grin as she saw Munkustrap obviously having a silent altercation of his own with the smugly seated Alonzo. Apparently, he had also been tricked into doing the Mating Dance. Stiffly, he turned to see Demeter and froze.

They stared at each other for a moment as the entire Junkyard seemed to be frozen in time. Then, slowly, they moved towards each other. Munkustrap stretched out a paw, and Demeter rubbed her ears against it.

Demeter's heart beat faster as she slid up alongside Munkustrap, with her back to him. He leaned over to wrap his right arm around her waist from the left, and she leaned trustingly backwards across his shoulders. With his right arm still holding Demeter safely against his side, Munkustrap grabbed her right leg in his left hand and wrapped it around the other side of his waist as he straightened up. Demeter felt weightless, like she was in a dream, as she was lifted by Munkustrap.

The normally nervous and shy young queen felt completely at ease in the 8-month-old tom's strong arms. She reached up with her left arm and wrapped it around his neck, brushing her paw against his ear. As she did so, she wondered if he had ever noticed her, the way she noticed him. She felt his heart beat against her back, and realized his heart was pounding as quickly as her own was. She could barely breathe for being so close to the handsome silver tabby, wrapped around his waist and shoulders. The seconds stretched on into what seemed like hours, but Demeter didn't really want it to end anyway. She'd never felt so exhilarated in all her young life. It seemed like she and Munkustrap were the only cats in the Junkyard for that one brief, beautiful moment.

Munkustrap twirled slowly in a single, graceful circle - the one constant in the Mating Dance, aside from the tom picking up the queen - then slowly, gently, he set Demeter back on her feet. As he did so, their eyes met and she saw the tenderness in his gaze. _Does he feel the same way I do?_ she wondered. Looking into his eyes, she thought he did. His eyes reflected her own understanding as he, too, seemed to find what he was looking for in her eyes. His eyes shined even brighter and he gave her a small, shy smile.

Blushing, Demeter slipped reluctantly out of Munkustrap's gentle embrace and backed away. Still staring at each other, Munkustrap and Demeter lowered themselves to the ground with the rest of the Jellicles. Finally, they looked away from each other.

With the Mating Dance over, the Jellicles started to make themselves comfortable, and snuggled up with one another to sleep. Bombalurina rubbed her head against Demeter's, purring smugly, then slid past her to sidle up to the Rum Tum Tugger. Demeter curled herself up, her heart still feeling as though it might pound out of her chest. She noticed her parents, Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks, cuddled together watching her with love and pride for her in their eyes. The younger Asparagus, the library cat, curled up with his back against Demeter's. Munkustrap, meanwhile, had boxed Alonzo playfully on the ear with a paw and then stretched out on top of him, pinning him down, and he started washing behind one of Alonzo's ears. Tumblebrutus was laying on his back next to them, batting lazily at his brother, Munkustrap's, slowly waving silver tail. Demeter smiled at the adorable sight. _Thanks, Bombalurina,_ she thought contentedly as she drifted towards sleep with the others. _That was amazing..._

* * *

Author's Note: I've got some fanart for this chapter on my website that I co-run with my RL sister, Lysana. To get there, go to my author bio and click on my 'Homepage'. From there, just go to the fanart section and it should be easy to find!


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